DOTA 2 First Blood Update: LAN, GLaDOS and More

With a plethora of updates being released by Valve on Monday September 23 here are some of the notable items coming out in the First Blood patch.

Local Play
It’s here. That dreaded, three letter word that eSports devs dodge during AMAs and do their best to wrestle out of their heads during sleepless nights: LAN. While this will no doubt come as a blessing to tournament organizers big and small alike, also gone are the days of countless friend invites pros receive after virtually every streaming session.
What’s more is that a lagging internet connection or service provider outage is no longer a hindrance on team or individual practice; the show will now go on regardless. And while many argue it’s not nearly as important a feature as it was years ago, the fact that Valve is actively working on the needs of every corner of its fanbase leaves little room to wonder why it’s the fastest growing eSports title today.

GLaDOS Announcer Pack
Not really news since we heard this would be coming out in August, but how could you resist having a sarcastic A.I. tell you that your towers have fallen?

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Get Organized
Another worthwhile addition to the game is the inclusion of a filter system for any player’s armory. For the impressive scope of the roster that DOTA 2 boasts, the struggle to recall any number of builds was a problem faced by many. Players will now be able to sift through their favorite orders according to item rarity, type, quality, and more. While this may not necessarily be as important for top-tier players, for newcomers this feature will make experimentation more of a seamless, foolproof process regardless if a player is casually strolling through pubs or pushing through practice sessions.

Winners Never Cheat and Cheaters Never Win
As far as user interface goes, control groups for each hero will now save to the cloud and carry across multiple games or instances of disconnects, the latter of which will make salvaging those matches slightly more manageable for the team at fault. Valve has also taken to adding a privacy measure to profiles, allowing users to prevent others from viewing their Steam or DOTA 2 accounts. On top of both of those changes, players caught using external tools attached to DOTA 2 will be suspended for 30 days if detected by Valve’s Anti-Cheat system. All three of these inclusions in the update seem to indicate that the company’s aiming to limit the player-to-player hostility that most agree is one of the only issues holding eSports back from acceptance into mainstream culture. At the very least, they’ll make for a more enjoyable experience for gamers across the board.

Looks are Everything
Visually, “First Blood” includes updates on, but not limited to:
Vhoul’s spear throw, Wildwing’s Ripper Tornado, the War Stomp of Centaur Conquerer, and Pudge’s Meat Hook, which will now also pull target’s back towards the hook’s initial position regardless of where Pudge has moved to. These instances of polish actually seem to have been one of the main focuses for the release, as the full list outlines nearly 20 changes to almost as many of the game’s characters.

Even with how vast and all-encompassing the “First Blood!” update is one question remains: when will we see 6.79?

For full details on the update, venture on over to Valve’s formal announcement here.